Twisted Wizardry
by AdrianAndroid
Summary: Rated for possible future chapters... This is a cross-over, YWHP young wizards harry potter Kit, Nita, and Dair are find a strange beer-bottle, and things get weird from there. The story's a lot better than the summary. STORY ON HOLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTE
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer:none of the characters are mine. they belong to JK Rowling and Diane Duane

Harry groaned and stretched as he attempted to write a 4-foot long parchment on how an additional dose of monkshood could effect the potency of an Anti-Dreaming Sleeping Potion. He stretched again and stood up to look out the Gryffindor Common Room window. Snow had fallen the night before, and students waded knee-deep in soft yet slightly crusty snow. Harry made up his mind, dropping his quill and reaching for his boots.

Nita Callahan and Kit Rodriguez grinned as they cavorted in the New York snow, smiling and chucking snowballs at each other. Liused watched the two snow-covered teens amusedly. Nita stood and started a futile attempt at brushing the snow off herself and turned to her partner in wizardry, Kit.

"Let's go over to Tom and Carl's place!"

"Good idea, Neets. Lets hurry and leave before Ponch wakes up and sees us gone."

"He's gonna find us anyway, Kit. Come on, lets go!"

Nita and Kit lined up the transport spell and vanished with a rush of incoming air.

The two young wizards arrived with a soft POP in Tom and Carl's front yard. Annie and Monty came rushing up.

"Down Annie! We don't have Ponch! Down!"

"Monty! Get off!"

Tom called from the house, "Come on in, the dogs will stay in the yard." Nita and Kit entered, and true to Tom's statement, the two dogs stayed in the yard.

"Tom, where's Carl?" Kit asked.

"Vet." Tom replied as he walked over to Kit and Nita. "Listen, I called your house to see if you three could come over. Dairine should be here any minute-" There was the sound of the door opening and barking dogs. "There she is now," Tom finished. Dairine walked in, followed by her Apple, Spot.

"Yo." Her all-around greeting. Tom winced and asked,

"Don't you know that that really gets under my skin? It's not proper English, and it really irritates me. Why don't you just say hello?" Dairine grinned at him and turned to Nita and Kit. "Yo." Tom winced again. He shuddered and continued, "I called you guys over because the Area Seniors have discovered something, and they sent it to Carl and I for us to examine it." Tom turned and walked into his room. He returned, walking slowly, holding an old beer bottle. Nita stared at it incredulously.

"A beer bottle?" she asked in shock. Kit turned to her.

"Neets, don't be stupid. Can't you feel the magic?" Nita reached around tentatively with her wizardry. It was true. The beer bottle was wreathed in strange spells and unfamiliar kinds of magic. Kit reached out to take it. Nita touched the neck of the bottle, trying to find some kind of response. Kit and Nita offered it to Dairine, who was sitting with her Apple by her side. She turned it on and reached for the bottle absentmindedly. Suddenly, the outline of Tom, the room, and everything else began to blur. They all felt a jerk from behind their navels and a sickening twirling feeling as colors warped and twisted. Kit cried out, sounding strangled, "What the-" His exclamation was cut off with a rush of wind.

Harry headed out towards the Quidditch pitch, broom under his arm. He pulled on gloves as he neared the pitch. A slightly chill wind blew, making him draw his red-and-gold scarf around his neck snugly. He grinned as he swung a leg over his Firebolt. He pushed off the ground and soared into the air, laughing like a madman and doing crazy tricks.

Harry landed an hour later. His hair was windblown, and his cheeks and nose red from the chill. He headed inside as he heard breakfast be announced. He stopped to put his broom away and warmed his hands a bit by the Common Room fire. He ran through the portrait hole and down the stairs as he headed to Great Hall.

The Hall was filled with the house colors. Most people were already sitting and waiting for Headmaster Dumbledore's speech. Harry dashed to his regular seating place between Ron and Hermione, and settled as Dumbledore stood to speak. Suddenly, there was a POP of air as three people crashed to the ground at the Headmaster's feet.

Nita tried to scream, but her lungs were pressed into a void. Suddenly, there was light, and sounds, and Dairine, and Kit. She stood, heart racing, struggling to comb her auburn hair. She was standing in front of a roomful of people, some her age, some Dairine's and some younger. They were all staring at them. She could sense their magic. She established a connection with Kit.

_Do you know where we are?_

_No. try and find Tom and Carl._ Nita attempted to establish a mind-connection with Tom. No response. She tried again with Carl. There was no response, either. She shook her head, turning to the people behind her. They were adults, each emanating power so great that she turned mentally away. focusing on the old man in front of her, she spoke.

"We are on errantry, and we greet you." The man looked at her in confusion. So did the adults behind him. Kit and Dairine were already standing. She bowed to each of the magic-radiating people as she looked at them. Some were friendly faces, some stern, such as the woman in green robes and peaked hat, and a weathered looking man with greasy black hair. The kids behind her were whispering. She looked at them. The room had four long tables, each occupied by a group of black-robed students. Behind the long table where the adults sat were four long banners. One was gold and red, with a lion on it. On another there was a snake's head on a back of green and silver. On the other two were a badger and a raven. All of Nita's observing had taken up the space of three or four seconds. Being wizards, Nita, Kit, and Dairine were forced to always stay on alert. Nita, Kit, and Dairine jerked to attention as the old man began to speak.

"Dear students, will you please continue feasting as I go to my office. Minerva?" The green-robed woman came up. She bowed slightly to the man and replied, "Of course, headmaster Dumbledore," and turned to the students. The old man, Dumbledore, steered them out of the room of gaping students and teachers towards one of the long corridors in the main hallway.

Harry looked at his two friends cautiously. Did these new arrivals have anything to do with Voldemort? Was Hogwarts in danger? Harry turned to his Ron and Hermione, shrugged, and looked at his meal.

"I am afraid that I do not know what errantry means, but I know, as should you young ones, that Apparating is not allowed at Hogwarts. " Dumbledore told Kit, Nita, and Dairine. "Please take a seat and tell me about yourselves." Nita and Kit took a deep breath, and began. By the time they had finished their story, and Dumbledore had finished his, the sun was already setting.

"Well, Juanita, Christopher, Dairine, since we do not have an answer to your predicament, you shall have to stay here. To provide you with as much as an education as we can on your short- he groped for words- visit , here, we must Sort you. Please sit here." Nita perched precariously on the stool provided. Dumbledore drew a bedraggled pointed hat from a shelf. Fawkes the phoenix watched from his perch. The hat was humming busily to itself. Dumbledore placed it on Nita's head. Nita started mentally conversing with the hat.

_Hello, I am the Sorting Hat. Would you happen to know any words that rhyme with thyme?_

_Well, there's time, and rhyme, and dime, and mine, and-_

_Aha! I've got the line. Well, down to business. I see. You are a true Gryffindor at heart, with great courage just obviously emanated. It is quite a privilege to be in this house. Farewell!_

The hat shouted, "Gryffindor!" It shouted the same word for Kit, though it took longer to decide for Dairine. Finally, it shouted "Gryffindor", and Dumbledore smiled. He spoke some words, disappeared, and returned swiftly with two people, a red-headed, freckled boy, and a bushy-haired girl, both were Nita's age.

"Hello," the two said.

"Hi!" replied Kit and Nita.

"Yo" replied Dairine. Nita elbowed her and Dairine glared and corrected herself. "Hello" The girl looked at Dairine quizzically and frowned slightly. She smiled again and said,

"We are the Gryffindor prefects. We'll help you find your way around for the first few days. Come with us, we'll head to the Common Room, dinner is done. I'm Hermione, and this is Ron." The bushy-haired girl, Hermione, grinned and jabbed Ron in the stomach with an elbow.

"Ouch! What was that for? Herm-ow-ninny?" He grinned back at her and dodged a fist. Kit and Nita looked at each other ruefully and grinned.

"I'm Kit, and this is Nita. This is her little sister, Dairine."

"Nice to meet you, Kit, Nita, and you too, Dairine." Ron grinned. Dumbledore waved them out of his office.

"You know how to get to the Common Room from here, Merlin knows you've been here plenty enough. You'll find food in the Common Room. Oh, Kit, Nita, you'll attend classes with Ron and Hermione, Dairine, you can be paired up with Ginny, Ron's sister. Go on then, you'll find robes and uniforms at your dormitories. Go!" Dumbledore winked at them and disappeared. Kit and Nita turned to each other and grinned. This was one exciting day.


	2. Chapter 2

Kit, Nita, and Dairine settled down in the Gryffindor common room pretty well. They told their stories to the curious students, then ate the food they found on a common room table. By nearly midnight, the crowd had dispersed and it was only Kit, Nita, Dairine, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sitting by the fire. Dairine muttered, "Red Five," and her Apple fell into her lap softly. Ron, Harry, and Hermione stared. Nita and Kit held out their hands, and their manuals fell into them. Kit reached absently in his otherworld claudication and pulled out a bag of marshmallows and a few long sticks. He speared a marshmallow onto each of the six sticks and handed each of them a stick before the three awestruck wizards could say anything about his invisible pocket. He slapped his head. "Oh, how could I forget?" He reached into his pocket once more and pulled out a few Hershey's chocolate bars and a box of graham crackers. Dairine clapped her hands and grinned. "S'mores!" she cried and snapped some chocolate off the bar and placed it onto her graham cracker, splitting her cracker in half. She leaned forward until her marshmallow was well toasted in the fire. She rested the hot marshmallow on the graham cracker, made a sandwich with it, and drew the stick out. She pressed the two crackers together, and blew on it a little before she bit into it, causing melted marshmallow and chocolate to ooze out the sides of the crackers. The others began to do it too, and they ate until they were stuffed. Ron grinned happily as he patted his stomach. Hermione dozed contentedly on her chair, and Harry had a faint hint of a smile on his face. Suddenly, a big black dog trotted to Kit, seemingly out of thin air. The dog panted and snatched up a fallen marshmallow in his teeth. Kit scolded in the Speech,

"Ponch, where were you? I expected you here hours ago!" Ponch grinned as well as he could, and replied in a string of soft barks,

"Oh, I was in my universe. I played with the squirrels, oh yes! It was fun, yayayaya!" Kit turned to Harry to tell him about his dog, but he stopped short. Harry was deathly pale, looking at Kit with a haunted look in his eyes. Hermione stirred and gasped as she set eyes on Ponch. _"Sirius_" she said in a faint whisper. Nita frowned. That was the name of Harry's godfather, wasn't it? The one who had disappeared behind the veil at the Department of Mysteries. Why on earth did Hermione say his name? Nita jolted as she remembered that Sirius Black was able to transform himself into a dog anytime he wished. Kit looked at Nita, giving her a knowing look. He turned to Harry and Hermione, as Ron was asleep. He shook his head. "No" Kit replied truthfully. "He's been with me my whole life. He's not Sirius Black. His name is Ponch, or Pancho." Harry nodded in silent agreement. Hermione only looked at Ponch, rose, and turned to Nita saying,

"Well, I see that you must be tired, I'll lead you to the Girls' Dormitory, and Harry and Ron will show you to the boys' dormitory. Good Night." With that, she beckoned to Nita and turned toward the staircase near the end of the Common Room. Nita, Dairine, and Hermione left, leaving Kit, Ron, Harry, and Ponch in the common room. Ponch stood up. Ron groaned and followed suit, muttering to Kit as he passed him,

"Here, Harry'll be here for a bloody long while, mate. I can tell. Let's go up to the dormitory." Kit sorrowfully followed Ron up the stairs to his dormitory, Ponch trotting at his heels.

The next day, Nita felt a hand urgently shaking her shoulder.

"Get up, I've got to show you around Hogwarts!" Nita blinked and looked up sleepily at the figure above her.

"Go 'way, mom. I wanna sleep in." Nita mumbled. Then she snapped to attention and sat up, remembering all that happened the night before. "Sorry, Hermione. I guess I'm having a complete brain holiday. Sorry." Hermione grinned at her and tossed her what looked like a black robe.

"This is your school robe. Your uniform is at the foot of the bed. Come on, hurry up, we'll be late for breakfast." Nita struggled with the uniform and followed Hermione down the stairs into the Common Room. The boys were already there, and two red-haired girls stood beside them.

"Hi Neets. This is Ginny. Isn't it neat, we look alike!" nita squinted at the girls. One was definitely Dairine. The other looked exactly like her. Dairine had found what a bother it was to do major wizardries and keep her glasses on, so she had switched to contacts over the summer. Nita scratched her forehead, bemused, and followed the others out of the Common Room through a tunnel-like "Portrait Hole" The group walked hurriedly through the hallways as Ron, Harry, and Hermione explained to the others about the corridors of Hogwarts. They finally reached two great wooden doors. Harry pushed them open and walked in. suddenly, the chatter that had gone on previously stopped as if cut by a knife. Everyone turned to stare at them. The six walked to their table amidst the hushed whispers. Dumbledore stood up. The Hall immediately quieted again.

"Ahem, dear students of Hogwarts, we have two new er- transfer students from the United States of America. Juanita Callahan, Dairine Callahan, and Christopher Rodriquez, will you please stand up here?" Blushing furiously, Nita stood and walked slowly up to the dais, hearing her sister and Kit's footsteps behind her. They turned to face the crowd of curious faces. At one table was a crowd of intelligent looking students, and at another were a crowd of curious students, and at yet another, there was a crowd of cold, sneering faces. Nita looked up uncertainly at Dumbledore who stood behind her. "Please welcome them kindly and ,now, on with the meal!" Dumbledore said with a merry twinkle in his eye, and suddenly plates of food popped up on the table. Dumbledore nodded to Nita, Dairine, and Kit. They hurriedly sat at their seats. The Gryffindors at their table nodded and stared in awe as Kit began to eat, and eat, and eat.

"Wow," he said to Nita with a mouth full of pancakes, "This is almost as good as your mom-" He stopped suddenly and blanched, and Nita sniffed as she looked at her plate. Dairine looked away. Kit swallowed his food past a lump in his throat and haltingly began to apologize.

"Nita, I'm sorry, really really sorry! I forgot, she's such a great woman. I'm sorry…" he trailed off brokenly. Nita rubbed her eyes and flashed Kit a watery smile.

"It's okay, really Kit. But its hard, you know?" Kit nodded and turned to his plate and absently pushed at the remaining food on it. They sat in silence, surrounded by the chatter of the other students, until Harry, Hermione, and Ron dragged them off to their first class, Advanced Potions.

"Now, don't pay attention to Snape, the old geezer. He hates all Gryffindors, you know. Just don't do anything rash. Oh, here we are!" They had arrived in front of a large wooden door. Nita laid a hand on the wood. It spoke to her in the mind-Speech,

_Be careful, youngster. _

_Thank you, _Nita replied. She lined up the words of the air-hardening spell in her mind. Then she pushed the door open and came in. The talking in the room hushed, like it had in Great Hall. All of the eyes in the room stared at her. She and the others sat at their seats and looked around. The sneering faces at the other end of the room did nothing to comfort her. She glared coldly back at them and concentrated on the man who had just entered the room. He was of a medium build, with greasy black hair that fell, lank , to his shoulders. He sneered in a similar fashion to that of the Slytherins at the newcomers and turned to the rest of the class. He started, coldly,

"Today we will look at a new potion, called The Kraken's Blight. It is used to give unbearable pain to the user, cauterizing and paralyzing, shutting down each function of the soul until the brain is the only working organ left, leaving the user vulnerable to be used by others, mindlessly following instruction soon the body is destroyed from within by acids.. It is a slow working potion, used to torture in the early history of wizardry. You, Ms.Callahan, Mr Rodriquez, why aren't you writing this down?" Nita, knowing that the information was probably in her manual, held hand out and took her manual from seemingly thin air. Kit did the same. She noticed that all the information in her manual was adapted to this universe, with potion recipies, different spells, and different addresses in the back of the book. The manual still had the information that it did when Nita was in her world, including a precis on her status. They were on active status, though it didn't state why. she found the recipie and propped her manual in front of her. Snape sniffed disdainfully and waved his hand, motioning for the students to begin to brew the potion. Nita quickly completed all directions given and sat, nursing a pot of lime-green Kraken's Blight. Snape was ordering,

"Miss Bulstrode, you must stir you potion corrctly, or it will immediately explo-" there was a hissing sound, and Nita quickly saw the problem. The cauldron of a large Slytherin girl was hissing and popping loudly, orange-red liquid splashing onto the floor and biting away at the stone blocks. The Slytherin had recoiled in fright, and Nita immediately sent her shield to cover the area around her, including the whole class, Gryffindors and Slytherins alike. The cauldron exploded, and Nita heard screams. She struggled to hold to her spell as the corrosive potion poured out of the charred cauldron and splashed at the base of the spell. _KIT!_ She cried mentally. Kit muttered three words, and his power surged through her. She held the spell, fists clenched against this strange new magic foe. The students stood, staring at the orange-red liquid sloshing against the bubble of air Nita had trapped them in. Professor Snape was surprised, but hid his astonishment and muttered several words. Nita felt something penetrate her spell, and then the orange-red liquid was gone. She released the spell and sagged against the wall at her back. She gasped for air and felt Hermione come and support her. She dimly heard Snape shouting,

"Miss Bulstrode, thirty, no, fifty points from Slytherin for endangering this class, and those points will go to Gryffindor, because that _girl_ was able to save us from a very, very gruesome death. Detention with Filch for the next week!" Nita grinned, and then passed out.


	3. Chapter 3

"Nita, Nita!" Kit cried. Snape turned his attention from Millicent and quickly conjured a glass of water. He sprinkled some on Nita's face, yet she did not wake. Snape turned to them. "Miss Granger, will you please escort Miss Callahan to the Infirmary? Mr. Rodriquez, you may escort her. Miss Granger, please use caution in your Mobilicorpus spell. Go!" Harry and Ron looked amazed. So did the rest of the class. Snape handed them a sheet of paper. "This is a pass for magic use. Hurry along!" Hermione muttered something under her breath as she pointed her wand at Nita. Her body began to float, and Hermione strode briskly out of the room, looking uncannily like Professor McGonagall during the Chamber of Secrets incident. Kit hurried to catch up, slip of paper clutched tightly in his hand. Hermione and Kit quickly trotted through the corridors of Hogwarts, soon reaching a large door. Hermione pushed it open and quickly placed Nita's still body on the closest bed. A portly woman rushed up, looking flustered. "Miss Granger, do you have a pass for use of magic?" Kit handed her the note, now slightly crumpled. She glanced at it, frowned, read it again, shrugged, and turned to Nita. She examined her quickly and pulled a potion from a shelf. Uncorking the bottle, a strange odor wafted from the neck of the green bottle. She propped Nita up with pillows and waved the bottle under Nita's nose, than tilted her head back and poured a little down Nita's slightly parted lips. The color returned to Nita's cheeks and Kit let out the breath that he had unknowingly been holding. Hermione looked at Nita, smiled in a slightly mysterious fashion, coughed lightly, and looked pointedly at Nita's and Kit's clasped hands. Kit turned as bright as Ron but didn't let go. Nita coughed, wheezed, and whispered, "Water-" Kit let go of her hand long enough to grab a cup from a bedside table and pour a little water into it. He sat on the edge of Nita's bed and tilted her head slightly up and put the rim of the glass to her lips. She sipped gratefully and leaned against Kit. Hermione whispered into Kit's ear, "I'll be going to class now, you stay here" Kit took the glass from Nita's lips and nodded. Hermione quietly slipped away while Madame Pomfrey went to attend to another patient. They gave each other knowing looks above Kit's head. Smiling, Hermione walked out.

Kit gently stroked Nita's soft auburn hair. She had never passed out like this on a simple air-hardening spell. He mused, wondering if this strange universe was affecting their wizardry. He was brought back to earth by a sleepy, familiar voice calling his name. He jerked his hand back and snapped his attention to Nita. She looked weak, but her face was flushed. He pressed the rim of the water glass to her lips and she sipped. Pushing the glass away, she struggled to sit up. Kit gently helped to raise her to a sitting position. He got off the edge of the bed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Neets, are you okay? That was a close call!" Nita smiled weakly and replied,

"of course. What happened to the class?"

"Everyone's fine, thanks to you. Water?" Nita shook her head. Kit sighed as Madame Pomfrey approached. "Okay, young lad, out of here! My patient needs her rest, Merlin knows what happened that made her so exhausted. Out, get to your class! Oh, no, go to Great Hall, the midday meal is being served. We have perfectly good food here, your little lass will be fine. Out!" Kit scuttled out the door with a last look over his shoulder at Nita. She was smiling.

Kit found a seat next to Harry, facing Ron, who sat by Hermione. "What happened back there?" Harry inquired, worriedly. "Yeah, what did happen?" added Ron through a mouth full of food. Hermione studied her plate. Kit shrugged. "When we use our wizardry in large amounts, it strains us. The effort she must have used must have been considerable." Kit picked at his food, and Harry had to drag him out of his seat to get him to the next class. Kit waved to Dairine, who was standing with a large group of who appeared to be Ravenclaws, having an interesting discussion on physics, no doubt. Ginny stood beside Dairine and looked quite goggle-eyed, watching Dairine spurt off about the gravitational mass of the universe, or something like that. Kit hurried to her and whispered to Dairine what had happened. Her eyes widened, but soon returned to their normal state as she replied,

"Oh, I'm sure Nita's fine, she must be in the care of a professional. I'll talk to her later. Oh look, class is starting!" Dairine rejoined her Gryffindor colleagues and Kit rejoined Harry, Hermione, and Ron. The three led him away through the halls of Hogwarts, which seemed to him quite empty.

Nita smiled to herself and touched her hair. She had been, in fact, awake when Kit was sitting beside her. She missed his warm presence. She shook her head wildly. Was she getting soft? She knew she and Kit were just friends, right? She snorted under her breath and relaxed into her pillows, letting the waves of deep slumber rock her to sleep.

Kit quickly dashed out of the classroom he had had his Arithmancy class in and plummeted down the hallways. Harry rushed to catch up, and quickly led Kit in the direction of the Infirmary. Kit dashed to Nita's bed and found her asleep, breathing quietly and evenly, looking like a young child. Kit sighed in relief and gently touched her hair. Nita stirred and blinked. Kit looked down at her bemusedly. She sat up and grinned, looking quite refreshed. Madam Pomfrey bustled over, declaring her patient fit for release. Harry told them about their Quidditch practice, and Kit and Nita agreed to come and join Hermione in watching the Gryffindor team. They all left the Infirmary in quite a cheery mood.

Nita and Kit watched with Hermione the players soaring around the Quidditch posts and flying everywhere, chasing balls or tossing them to one another. Kit was intrigued. It looked almost as good as universal kernel finding, or playing in a universe of his own with Ponch. Harry darted past the stands, searching for the small golden Snitch. He waved triumphantly as he caught it, directly under the center goalpost on the far end of the field, opposite of where Kit, Nita, and Hermione watched. Hermione clapped her hands excitedly as Harry grinned at her. Nita looked at Hermione, looked at Harry, nodded at Kit, and they smiled in unison at Hermione, who immediately turned bright red. Quidditch practice was declared over, and Harry flew towards them. He landed on the seat behind Hermione and covered her eyes. "Guess who?" he asked jovially. Hermione giggled in a very unHermioneish way. "Harry, of course you, you big git! Who else would it be? Draco? Now that's a frightening thought." Harry shuddered and lowered his hands. Hermione stood and brushed off her robes, flushing a deep red as she caught sight of the look Nita had given her. Nita winked and stood up. She went to Harry. "Harry, are there any ways that Kit and I may be able to borrow a broom, to you know, fly on?" Harry led them to the broom closet and had them select two brooms. He showed them how to get on them and direct the broom. He was shocked to see that his two new friends seemed to be born for flying, as they did loops, soared high in the sky, and dove down again. Soon Kit and Nita dismounted cheeks and noses quite red from the chilly upper air. Their shoes crunched into the almost-undisturbed snow as they headed for Great Hall.

The next morning at breakfast, Headmaster Dumbledore pulled them all into his office, Harry, Ron, and Hermione included. They all sat on comfortable chairs in front of the Headmaster's desk, warmed by the crackling fire. Dumbledore smiled at them and started,

"So, how was your first day at Hogwarts?"

"Wonderful!" "Great!" Intriguing!" (the last of course, was stated by Dairine.)

Headmaster smiled and began again.

"As you seem to be enjoying your time at Hogwarts, I have decided that you must visit Diagon Alley for your supplies. Hagrid will accompany you, and Harry, Hermione, and Ron should come too, because they are your guides. You will travel using Floo powder, which is used by throwing a pinch into the fire, stating your destination, and stepping in. You will immediately arrive at your destination. Off you go, then, Hagrid will be waiting for you at Diagon Alley. Trust me, you won't miss him. The Floo powder is on the ashtray on the mantel. Farewell!"

Harry went first, than Nita, than Dairine, than Kit, and than finally Ron and Hermione. They arrived quickly, and were greeted by a jovial half-giant with a prominent mustache and beard. Nita, Kit, and Dairine took an immediate liking to the amiable Hagrid.

"Well, off t' Gringotts, Headmaster's orders. Let's go!" The group followed Hagrid through the crowds of robed wizards and witches, finally stopping in front of a very regal-looking building. They entered, and the goblin at the desk asked for their names. "Christopher Rodriquez" "Juanita Callahan" "Dairine Callahan" they chorused. The goblin nodded.

"Well, Miss Juanita, would you like to withdraw from vault 587, 588, 589, or 590? All of them belong to you. Miss Dairine, take your choice from vault 591, 592, 593, or 594. Mr. Rodriquez, take your pick from vaults 1253, 1254, 1255, or 1256. Well?" Nita, Dairine, and Kit were stunned. How did they get accounts here in a place where they had never been before? Hagrid pulled out three large leather sacks and handed them out. Nita mumbled,

"we'll look at them all, please." The goblin nodded, beckoned to a nearby comrade, and ordered the other goblin,

"Take the extra-large car with you, you have a large load. Here are the vault numbers, and here are the people. Go on, Garouk!" the goblin, Garouk, led them to a large coal car, the kinds used in old mines and sat them down there. They then proceeded to take a series of sharp drops and jerking turns until they reached a door. Garouk stroked the door with a finger and it disappeared. Nita inhaled sharply, as did the other members of the cart, excluding the goblin.


	4. Chapter 4

The walls were covered with gleaming golden, silver, and bronze coins. All available floor space was covered with sacks of money, piles of it, and more sacks. Hagrid nudged Nita out of the car. She tottered through the door and grabbed handfuls of gold, silver, and bronze coins until her bag was full. She grabbed a smaller sack labeled "Galleons" and carried the two bags to the cart. The Goblin looked at her.

"Miss Callahan, would you still like to look at your other vaults? They are exactly the same as this one…" Nita shook her head, and the goblin continued the trip until they reached Dairine's vault, which was as packed as Nita's were. She also filled her bag but filled it with Galleons and Sickles only. She joined the cart and they careened down the passageways to Kit's vaults, which were almost identical to the girls'. Harry took the opportunity to visit his single vault and they left Gringotts holding their sacks in hand, feeling quite happy. Ron seemed a bit stunned, and Hermione was chattering about the schools' books. They approached Flourish and Blotts', but Kit and Nita told Hagrid they had all the information they needed in their manuals. Harry and Ron led them to several Quidditch stores. They looked at the rows of shiny brooms, and Kit watched as Ron looked at the Firebolts and sighed. They continued on to buy dress robes, quills, and ink. Kit selected a pair of black dress robes with silver trimming and matching black shoes. The robes consisted of a black silk vest, black dress pants, a white collared shirt, a maroon tie, and the long flowing robe portion of the outfit. Nita bought a simple, yet beautiful pale blue tube top silk gown with a pair of stiletto white sandals that tied just above her ankles, while Dairine chose a green silk dress with 3/4 sleeves that flared into beautiful green silk extensions that reached a little below her hands, and a tight top that flared into green silk waves that went to her ankles. Harry and Ron promised to meat at the Leaky Cauldron for a midday meal and left, going Christmas shopping. Hermione, Nita, Dairine, and Kit, accompanied by Hagrid, went to accomplish shopping of their own. They returned to Gringotts and retrieved more Galleons. The odd thing that they noticed was that as much as they took out, it continued to refill. This time they brought out only Galleons, four large sacks each, sharing four with a very reluctant Hermione. They continued to _Quality Quidditch Supplies, _where they bought the whole Gryffindor team the newly introduced Lightblaze XLs, to be delivered to each player's room on Christmas Eve via Owl. They personalized Harry, Ron, and Ginny's brooms, also, they then bought Ginny, Ron, and Harry new Quidditch robes with their names emblazoned on the breast in gold fiber, along with a broom-care kit to go along with their Lightblazes. Hermione bought Ron a thick book titled, "A History of the Chudley Cannons and Other Top Quidditch Teams," while she bought Ginny a series of Muggle classic books that she had taken interest in. The group bought presents for each other, keeping their purchases a secret. They bought presents for the Weasly clan, and they met the others at the Leaky Cauldron at midday, sharing a meal, when Hagrid slapped his head and roared,

"Ere, I guess I fergot t' let yeh know, Headmaster wants me t' take yer to Ollivander's fer wands." The whole group trouped over to Ollivander's in a happy mood, and tried with the wands until they finally found ones that matched. Dairine had an 11 inch ash wand with the core of a veela's hair, while Nita picked a 13 inch rowan (unsurprisingly) wand with a core of the rare Procyon dragon's heartstring, the heartstring of the rarest dragon discovered, a platinum scaled dragon with elemental powers. Kit chose a 13 inch pine wand with the core of a Procyon Dragon's heartstring as well. Old Ollivander smiled to himself, saying,

"There is an interesting story about these two Procyon Dragon heartstrings. These magestic dragons were found ages ago, mates, wound together, dead. When the heartstrings were removed from the dragons, they twined together and could not be pulled apart. The thick strand was cut in half and placed as the core of these two very opposite, yet similar woods. Rowan, a helpful tree, and a scrub pine, a useless mountain plant with no more use than to chop for firewood. Ah, yes, these are powerful wands. Be careful in their use, young wizard and witch, for they have more power than one could ever know." The two reddened and paid for their wands. They returned to Gringotts to withdraw regular pocket money, as they had spent all of their money in the sacks. Nita, Kit, and Dairine were surprised to find that their vaults seemed to be stacked with even more coins than that they had taken. They each grabbed a sack marked galleons and Flooed back to the Gryffindor Common Room. They stashed their purchases into the empty trunks at the feet of their beds and went to sleep.

The days passed quickly, and soon it was time for the Yule Ball. Dumbledore had the hall decorated in festive style. Wreaths were everywhere, the torches seemed to burn brightly than before in the dungeons, and even the ghosts looked happy. Ron grinned to himself as he plotted out a truly F&G Weasly scheme.

On the night of the Yule Ball all of the girls left for their rooms early, to prepare. Ron and Kit played wizard's chess, which Kit seemed to take a liking to, and was brilliant at. He grinned as his pawn impaled Ron's king through the chest with a pike. Ron groaned and held his temples.

"Lets do something else. Kit, this is the fifth time you've beaten me!" Harry grinned. Ron had had a good beating by Kit. Harry looked at the Muggle invention on his wrist. Luna had given it to him as an early Christmas present, and it was called a watch. The time had passed quickly. There was but one hour to the dance.

The boys were seated comfortably in the large Common Room chairs, clad in their dress robes. Harry had a green robe with gold ivy designs along the cuffs and hem of the robe, while Ron was in a dark blue set of robes with dark yellow trimming, while Kit was in the dress robes he had purchased beforehand. They sat around the fire, waiting for the girls to come down. Harry spoke up.

"So, Kit, how long have you been with Nita?" Kit shrugged, the hint of a blush accenting his tan facial features.

"Oh, about maybe 4 or 5 years. How about you guys?" Harry shrugged,

"Just about six." Just then, there was a sound of a light cough. The boys snapped their attention to the girl at the top of the stair. The boys jerked to their feet and blushed to the roots of their hair. Hermione stepped down the stairs quietly; the only sound was the swishing of her maroon dress to the floor. Her hair was in an elaborate bun, almost like the one she had at her infamous dance with Viktor Krum. She stood to the side of the stairs with Ron and looked expectantly up at the top of the staircase. Two nearly identical red-haired girls stood side by side. One wore a buttercup colored dress (Ginny) and Dairine wore the one she had bought. They descended the dormitory stairs and went each to their dates. By now, Hermione stood with to Ron, and Ginny was Harry. Dairine shook her head and stood beside Kit, though she fervently denied all claims that she was going with him. Kit looked up the stairs and was met by the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Nita's auburn hair fell in waves past her shoulders, simply held from her face by a simple silver hair barrette. Her dress clung to her lean form, proportioning everything perfectly. Still, he reasoned to himself, she _was_ perfect. Kit's jaw dropped open wide and stayed that way. The other guys and their dates had backed off slightly and smiled at Kit, though he was oblivious to their stares. His eyes were only on Nita. She descended the staircase gracefully and silently stood in front of Kit. He took her hand and brushed it to his lips, than stepped back a little. "Good evening, Miss Callahan," Kit said with a distinguished bow. "May I expect the pleasure of your company at the Yule Ball tonight?"


End file.
